Wal Mart : Horrible Produce Quality & Expensive - Fruits , Veggies etc.

[walkonby]

tjthemanto, personally I have PM my fruits and veggies at WM with np and actually RCSS where I have also PM for PC Plus points has surprisingly had worse quality than at WM. However as most people have said the produce everywhere seems just a tad " sad " for the last few weeks at least. This morning I was on my way to grab a great Tassimo deal at GT and I noticed celery was on for .97!! Lately they have been around $1.79 or higher in many stores, so I was going to grab a couple until I saw them .
I laughed when I picked one whole bundle up in the centre, both ends fell limp on either side of my hand!! I bought a box of licorice allsorts instead! ( Lynn49 DON'T read that part o.k?? ) Oh well we will see some fresher produce arriving soon I hope.

[tjthemanto]

I just don't know why people would go to WM for produce or meat. Just don't get it.

Because its one place ..one stop shopping. Saves time, gas etc.

Lot of people go there for something else , and decide to pick some groceries on the way. Almost no one goes there just for produce or meat.

Lot of people don't drive, so they don't really want to go to 2-3 places by public transit carrying bags with them in winter, so they prefer one stop shopping.

[tjthemanto]

i got some really bad grapes over the weekend at Wally, I had to throw out almost half of the bag. Most of them was dried up, I m guessing they were stored for too long before they hit the shelf. I price matched for $.97/lb, but only half were edible.

I find the temperature inside WM produce areas to be too hot & dry for the veggies & produce..they seem all shrivelled up & dry.

At dedicated grocery stores, I find the store temparature to be slightly cooler & they seem to spray their produce with automatic timed water sprays for their brocolli, lettuce etc. Never really seen that at WM .

[FallenPixels]

I find the temperature inside WM produce areas to be too hot & dry for the veggies & produce..they seem all shrivelled up & dry.

At dedicated grocery stores, I find the store temparature to be slightly cooler & they seem to spray their produce with automatic timed water sprays for their brocolli, lettuce etc. Never really seen that at WM .

My WM does have water on them and the employees are in top of sorting. They are often out of stock on basic items though.
It really depends on the store, the one we used to shop at I would not buy produce

As far as the meat, most of it is Maple Leaf now anyway so no different than buying it elsewhere

[wolfwoman]

I find buying at my local Farmers Market the best way to get great fresh produce. Not only is it good for my local economy but it is better for the environment.

[torontogal12]

You are lucky to have a good Farmers market. The ones in the city here are hyper expensive. Much more than the grocery stores or Chinese stores. I always go to look but can't afford it. In the summer I saw a pint of red potatoes at the Farmers Market... for $8. A PINT!!!!

I find buying at my local Farmers Market the best way to get great fresh produce. Not only is it good for my local economy but it is better for the environment.

[megansavingmoney]

Tried to buy onions yesterday at RCSS as they were on sale. Only 5 bags left and all remaining had either been ripped open or had rotten onions or both. So definitely not just Walmart.

[Ciel]

Walmart does have a spray system in the fresh herbs or salad greens refrigerated area. Rest of produce is out in open displays in the middle of the department.

I find that certain items like celery can taste vaguely chlorinated if purchased at WM or Food Basics.

I was looking at Fortino's PC frozen fruits in the freezer-no 4 berry blend but there were peaches, a 4 summer fruit blend, dark cherries and cranberries. Price was $3.99 so worth a look. Fortino's had about 1/3 of the reduced produce display filled with bananas again but some other items were small zucchini (1.49 for about 5-6 in a tray), 4pk of orange bell peppers (2.49), a tray of grapefruit, one tray of yellow pears (seldom see that!), some hothouse tomatoes, eggplants and grapes. Don't usually get a wide assortment on the rack>skews towards apples/bananas and some veg usually a couple of days away from spoiling.

Food Basics does currently have the best price on European chestnuts-$8.75/kg this season, if you like toasting some in your toaster oven for 20min and having a good protein treat! Fortino's price has been well over $9/kg for the same chestnuts.

*Forgot to mention-I saw two empty clementine crates in the cart corral's garbage container-I was returning a cart left in the parking hinterland to the corral so no driver's vehicle would risk a ding. Store has $3.99 price for Spanish clementines so either a car driver did not want the boxes or maybe a walking senior (some nearby retirement homes/townhouses) did not want the weight of the boxes?